Abstract

This document explains the key role that harmonization of standards
plays in increasing accessibility of the Web for people with
disabilities.

It
examines how adoption of a consistent standard for Web content
accessibility
would drive development of Web authoring tools that support production
of accessible Web content, making accessible design and development
more efficient.

This document also explains how adoption of a consistent standard
for browser and
media player accessibility would reinforce access to Web content, and
help
ensure that accessible content will be more available through assistive
technologies used by some people with disabilities.

Overview

In this document "standards harmonization" refers to the adoption of
unified international standards for accessibility of Web content, for
authoring tools used to develop Web sites, and for user agents
including browsers and media players.

Around the world there is currently fragmentation -- multiple
divergent standards -- rather than
harmonization of Web accessibility standards. While W3C's Web Content
Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 (WCAG 1.0) is the most broadly adopted Web
accessibility standard
internationally, many countries have developed or are now developing
their
own guidelines or standards. Furthermore, there is sometimes one
version of a
guideline
or standard at the national level, different versions at the provincial
or state level, and yet different versions adopted by commercial,
educational, and
non-governmental organizations within the same region. For
organizations
with audiences spanning different regions or sectors, simply keeping
track
of the different requirements can be a challenge.

Harmonization of Web accessibility standards is key to making an
accessible Web because it creates a unified market demand which in
turn drives development of improved Web authoring tools. Improved
authoring tools make it easier to create accessible Web sites and to
retrofit previously inaccessible
sites, for instance by prompting for accessibility information such as
alternative text for graphics, captions for audio, or summaries for
data tables. Widespread
availability of improved authoring tools can enable accessible design
to become the prevailing
design mode even for Web developers initially unaware of the need for
accessibility or disinclined to learn guidelines and techniques for
achieving
accessibility.

Standards harmonization creates a more attractive market for
developers of tools used to evaluate Web site accessibility. It enables
re-use of training and technical assistance resources for Web
accessibility across different regions and sectors. Standards
harmonization
enables better access to
information through browsers and media players, and better
interoperability with specialized technologies that some people with
disabilities must
rely
on. It enables development of information repositories containing
accessible, compatible, and re-usable content.

Together these three WAI guidelines provide mutually reinforcing
solutions which result in more comprehensive and effective
accessibility. W3C/WAI
continues to advance these three guidelines by updating and refining
them as Web technologies evolve.

Current Situation

Different types of modifications, or fragmentation, of Web
accessibility guidelines can have different impacts on Web
accessibility efforts.

Rewording accessibility provisions may change the technical
meaning of the provision, creating different conformance
profiles and requiring authoring tool and evaluation tool developers to
support different implementation and/or evaluation techniques.

Combining two or more accessibility provisions may affect the
meaning of one or more of the provisions, again potentially creating
different conformance profiles and requiring
authoring tool and evaluation tool developers to support different
implementation and/or evaluation techniques.

Dropping or adding accessibility provisions will change the
conformance profile, and may decrease the chance that the reduced or
expanded standard will be supported in authoring or evaluation tools.

Various factors drive fragmentation of Web accessibility standards.

There is sometimes discomfort with a guideline not developed
locally, yet WAI guidelines have been developed with input from many
countries around the world.

The lack of authorized translations of WAI guidelines in local
languages can present difficulties for some governmental bodies;
however, W3C is developing a policy which will enable authorized
translations of W3C Recommendations.

There are sometimes barriers to adoption of non-ISO standards by
some governments, yet W3C is the leading standards organization for the
Web industry, and many of those same governments have already
standardized onto HTML and XML, which are W3C specifications.

There is sometimes a belief that disability requirements might be
unique locally, yet the same types of disabilities exist around the
world.

Local organizations becoming involved in Web accessibility
sometimes see development of local guidelines as a good opportunity for
investment of resources; yet development of local awareness, training,
technical assistance, and evaluation expertise may be a more strategic
place to invest resources than the recreation of Web accessibility
guidelines.

Organizations may not initially realize that Web technologies are
constantly evolving, and that to develop local guidelines means a
continued obligation to maintain and update those guidelines into the
future.

Organizations may be unaware of the importance of
harmonized Web accessibility standards in creating a unified market
that drives development of key
supporting resources such as authoring tools, evaluation tools,
browsers, and media players; and the advantages of re-usable training
resources and technical assistance;
and how this can more rapidly lead to more widespread Web accessibility.

Consequences

Web Developers

For Web developers using today's authoring tools, development of
accessible Web sites first requires an awareness of the need for
Web accessibility, then a deliberate effort to apply WCAG 1.0. It may
require working around features of authoring tools that make it hard to
build
accessible Web sites. For instance, some authoring tools produce
non-standard markup,
and some authoring tools remove accessibility information such as
alternative text or captions.
Authoring tools that conform to ATAG 1.0 would provide built-in support
for production of accessible Web sites.

Development of accessible Web sites with today's authoring tools may
also require Web developers to work around inconsistent support of Web
standards needed for accessibility support in
browsers and media players. For instance, inconsistent initial support
in browsers for Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) features such as
CSS positioning led many Web developers to rely on less accessible
design
solutions for layout for many years. Browsers and media players that
conform to UAAG 1.0 would provide reliable support for accessibility
features, making Web developers' jobs easier.

Web developers must already learn a variety of Web languages and
tools to be competitive in their field. Harmonization of Web
accessibility standards enables Web developers to learn one consistent
set of guidelines and implementation techniques rather than many, and
to re-use training and technical assistance resources among a broader
Web community. Harmonized standards, and authoring tools and browsers
conforming to those standards, allow Web developers to design and
develop accessible Web sites more efficiently.

Authoring Tools

Authoring tool developers face competing priorities when deciding
which features to build into their software. Product managers'
decisions with regard to which features are included in product
releases are frequently based on the extent of demand for a given set
of features throughout their customer base. Harmonized standards mean
more unified customer demand. This strengthens the business case
for accessibility for authoring tool developers, and can tip the
balance towards implementation of
more accessibility features and earlier availability of those features
in the marketplace.

Availability of authoring tools conforming to ATAG 1.0 is key to
making the Web accessible because so many people who publish content on
the Web would have at their fingertips tools making it easy to create
accessible Web sites.

Evaluation Tools

Evaluation tool developers are also impacted by fragmented standards
which
can delay or increase the development cost of evaluation tools. In some
cases, additional time needed to implement evaluation tests for
multiple versions of guidelines takes away from development time
that could otherwise be used to increase the accuracy of evaluation
tools
or the usability of the tools themselves.

Harmonized Web accessibility standards allow developers of
accessibility evaluation
tools to implement one set of evaluation tests rather than
multiple tests for overlapping or conflicting guidelines and standards
in different regions or sectors where their products are used. It
allows tool developers to concentrate their efforts on accuracy and
usability of the tool. Improved evaluation tools enable more people to
test Web sites more reliably, and help ensure more accessible Web sites.

Organizations

When there is
fragmentation of standards, organizations with audiences spanning
different regions, countries, or sectors must carefully monitor
different sets of requirements. Organizations must provide different
authoring tools, evaluation tools, training resources and technical
assistance for their Web developers, which can take resources away from
actually implementing accessibility. They must push harder to make the
business case for accessibility within the
organization.

Harmonized Web accessibility standards, on the other hand, allow
these organizations to re-use authoring and evaluation tools, training,
and technical assistance throughout the organization, thereby achieving
more cost-effective accessibility solutions.

Browsers, Media Players, Assistive
Technologies

Harmonization of Web accessibility standards is also a concern with
regard to browsers and media players. Conflicting standards for browser
accessibility can slow implementation of accessibility support. The
current lack of browsers and media players conforming to the User Agent
Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 (UAAG 1.0) makes it harder for people with
disabilities to access information on Web sites, and to find and use
accessibility features that are included in some browsers.

Some of today's browsers and media players do not provide access to
accessibility information that a Web content developer may have
included in a Web site, for instance long descriptions of complex
visuals such as maps and graphs, or summaries of information in data
tables. UAAG 1.0 describes how browers and media players can enable
access to such information when it is present. UAAG 1.0 also describes
requirements for browsers and media players that can work smoothly with
assistive technologies which some people with disabilities use, such as
screen readers, screen magnifiers, and voice recognition software.

Implementation of accessibility standards in browsers and authoring
tools is mutually reinforcing. Once browser developers implement Web
accessibility features, authoring tool developers have more reason to
provide authoring support for those features. For instance, once
browsers provide access to summaries of data tables, then authoring
tool developers have more motivation to provide a means for content
developers to add summaries to tables. Browser developers are in turn
influenced by what authoring tools support, and are more likely to
implement accessibility features once they know that authoring tools
will provide relevant authoring support.

Information Repositories

Online information repositories allow individuals and organizations
to pool content, for instance for the creation of re-usable online
learning modules. If the content in an information repository conforms
to a
consistent accessibility standard, then that content can be shared
among an unlimited number of users, and re-purposed and personalized
according to user profiles which may include information on prefered
learning styles and the accessibility requirements of users with
disabilities. With harmonized standards for accessibility of content in
the information repository, educators and learners are able to freely
transform shared resources according to user needs.

Action Steps

W3C continues to update and refine the WAI guidelines and supporting
Techniques documents and other resources to keep pace with evolving Web
technologies. In addition it is addressing factors which have
contributed to fragmentation in the past, such as the lack of an
authorized translation process.

WAI is currently developing the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines
2.0 with broad
international participation, and with the intent that WCAG 2.0
will be easier to understand, easier to implement, easier to test, and
will address more advanced Web technologies. Broad public feedback on
Working Drafts of WCAG 2.0, as well as other WAI guidelines and
resources, helps ensure that these documents will meet a broad spectrum
of needs.

The following steps can help drive increased harmonization of
Web accessibility standards, leading more rapidly to an accessible Web.

Participate in development of WCAG 2.0, ATAG 2.0 and UAAG 2.0 by
reviewing and commenting on drafts, providing feedback on
implementation trials, or participating in the Working Groups.

Ensure that authoring tool developers, and browser and media
player developers, are aware of the need for ATAG- and UAAG- conformant
tools, and how implementation of ATAG and UAAG can improve
interoperability with assistive technologies.

For organizations which currently have guidelines that diverge
from the international standard, consider establishing mechanisms for
review and potential adoption of WCAG 2.0 once it
is completed.